ReWrite The Stars
by TinyBoxTink
Summary: Rafael Barba's career is in shambles, that's no secret. But an old family friend may just have the key to helping clear his name... {Post "Undiscovered Country"} Some Barson, Some OC, please like review and subscribe! If you are as angry about Barba leaving the show as I am, this is the fic for you! [Fixed names and typos!]


Rafael's eyes fluttered open, the sun peeking through his townhouse's bedroom windows. Morning already? When had he passed out? He may have had his own "pity party" for one, drinking the good bourbon he had been saving for a "Special Occasion"; well, deciding to leave the best and most prestigious job he had ever had and not knowing what to do next was certainly a "Special" occasion.

He groaned from the throbbing pain radiating from his forehead and the smell coming from his body; god he was gonna be sick. Sick of life, sick of….wait, was his phone vibrating? He weakly stretched further towards his nightstand, pulling his phone to his chest and falling back on his back. Christ, the screen was bright. Two voicemails and a text: He listened to the voicemails first, Liv checking on him, of course. Second was a colleague from college, said he wanted to "talk"; that can't be good, could it? Finally, closing one eye to brace the light from the screen, he read the text:

"Miss you. Call me soon?" Liv; he almost felt guilty, he should've talked to her after just leaving her on the steps of the courthouse. He hated saying goodbye to her, but what did he have to offer her at this point? He was a broken man. Maybe, maybe this colleague had an offer—maybe. It was worth a shot, not like he had anything else to do. He sighed, went to go get an alka seltzer and water, sank into his lazy boy in his study and dialed the phone.

"Hello? Rafael is that you?" a gravely man's voice came through the phone.

"Yeah, Freddy what's up?"

"You doing alright? I heard about what happened the other day…."

"Good news travels fast, huh?" he snarked.

"Aw come on, Rafa. I wouldn't call that good news. Unless…." Freddy paused.

"Unless what?"

"Unless that means you're a free agent? Maybe consider working for us peons down in Brooklyn?"

"….Seriously? You want a baby killer working for you?" Rafael scoffed.

"Ah please, that's a bunch of political BS—us here in the burbs don't give two craps about that," Freddy assured him.

"….Aren't you a family lawyer?"

"…Alright, I'll be real with you. My daughter came to me and begged me to call you," Freddy finally sighed.

"I-I'm sorry, what?" Rafael was literally taken aback, he stumbled a little back onto his bed. Was he serious?

"Yeah, she's a law student at Fordham Law and apparently she's been 'following' you, as a study for one of her classes, and she heard about what happened and she got all riled up about the 'injustice' of it all, and….well, you know our family. She's got her mother's temper and my fire for the job, so I told her I'd call you," Freddy explained, Rafael's eyes bulged as he talked.

"I….what….little Xiomara?"

"She goes by Zoe now, but yeah that's her," Freddy chuckled.

"So, after twenty something years, you call me to tell me little Zoe….what, has some sort of….admiration, for me? Wants to meet me? A-Are you fucking with me because I'm down because listen we were best friends once but that is REALLY—"

"I'm not fucking with you Raffi, I don't even expect you to say yes. To be honest, I had no idea she even knew who you were before last night; she lives in the dorms at Fordham and comes home sporadically, I have no idea what goes through that girl's mind! But last night, she came home ranting and raving about how you were given a raw deal, that you lost your job over it and 'we had to do something' and I asked her if she knew we were buddies, was that why she was taking this so personally. She said she had no idea what I was talking about, so we talked about it—I got out the old pictures, some bourbon, I told her all about the crazy shit we used to get into—" Rafael choked on a gulp of alka seltzer he had taken while Teddy talked.

"Fernando, you did NOT—"

"I did! It's good for a daughter to know her old man, Rafficito!" Freddy laughed again.

"Yeah her old man, not some guy she's held on a pedestal for….what, months?"

"Ah, so you ARE happy she likes you," Rafael could hear Fernando raise his eyebrows through the phone.

"….I'm happy that at this point in my life and career, when it seems like the world is shitting on me for one mistake, one moment in time, someone somehow has some faith in me. That's all,"

"Raffi….I don't know who you've got around you right now, but your old familia out here has always had your back. You're el chico de oro! Golden boy of Brooklyn Heights,"

"….You know what, maybe a trip out there would be good for me," Rafael looked at his scraggly face in the mirror. Not like he had something better to do today.

"No way, really? If I tell Rosa you're coming you KNOW she's gonna go all out for dinner. You sure you'll come?"

"Not like I have job offers banging down the door, Teddy. I'm headed over," He sniffed his funk wafting from his boxers. "….After I shower,"

"Nice, hombre. I'll tell Zoe you're coming too—a night with my girl two nights in a row! I should be kissing your feet hermano,"

"I'll see you soon," he half smiled, hanging up the phone.

After Rafael hopped out of the shower, he went to his closet. He looked at his rows of suits, all different colors and textures. His tie rack, god he did love his ties. He'd miss the suits, but it wasn't forever. At least that's what he told himself to stay sane. He looked around and pulled a blue button up shirt and his black leather jacket, some jeans and converse. He hadn't a casual day in….god he didn't even know.

Calling an Uber, he suddenly remembered about Liv's call and text; he should at least check in. The car was on it's way, 15 minutes; he had time for a chat. He slipped on his aviators and stepped outside on his stoop while he waited, and dialed her number.

"Rafa! Thank God, I was starting to really worry," Liv's voice was music to his hears through the phone.

"Yeah, Liv I'm sorry I…I must have just passed out last night. You know…long day," He ran his fingers through his hair; he hated lying to her, but he didn't want to burden her with his stuff right now. God knows she had enough of her own.

"It's fine, I just wanted to make sure you were okay, so….are you? Okay?" Her voice turned more concerned than he liked, but it was nice to know she still cared for him.

"I'm….as okay as I can be," He sighed, thinking about everything. Sure, he lost his career, his high style life. But something about that phone call from Teddy, it gave him some kind of new hope. A new beginning.

"Listen, Raf. If you ever need to—Oh; Oh—Okay Fin, yeah I'll be right there,"

"The job calleth," he chuckled sadly.

"Yeah, listen we'll talk soon, okay? Drinks? Sooner than later?" she asked.

"I'm available indefinitely," he said with a sarcastic tone.

"Okay….and, take care of yourself, okay?" Her voice lowered, almost sounding like she was on the verge of tears; it killed him.

"Always have, Liv. I'll talk to you soon,"

He hung up just as his Uber came up to the brownstone and he climbed in. He nodded and made small talk, then just stared out the window, just wondering what was coming next.

He stepped outside of the car, nodded to his Uber and looked at the small, humble house. It was like he had stepped back in time; he was 20 again. Not even halfway up the drive way and a small, Hispanic older woman came bolting out the door.

"Rafacito! Ay, papi how long has it been?" She grabbed him in a hug and a kiss, Rafael warmly hugged her back with a laugh.

"Rosa, ay Chiquita you haven't changed a bit! Where's el burro, eh?" Rafael followed her up the stoop into the house.

"Grabbing beers for you, hermano!" Fernando's voice boomed from the kitchen, as he walked into the living room with two Corona's and limes.

"Ay….uh….I haven't had this since college," Rafael half chuckled, hesitantly taking the bottle and swishing it.

"Eh, look at big abodgado, well we don't have the fancy Manhattan bourbon around the house carbon, you're just gonna have to deal with our peon cerveza!" Fernando laughed; Rosa excused herself to finish up dinner and the two old friends retired to the living room.

"God, it hasn't changed here at all," Rafael sighed, looking around the room. It was like walking into a time capsule; even the god awful tacky pineapple clock he had given Fernando as a joke for his bachelor party still hung over the TV.

"Can't mess with history," a younger female voice came out of the hallway, and there appeared Xiomara. Rafael hadn't seen her since she was….god, what? 4? 5? She was so adorable, running around in dresses and pigtails, now she stood before him a grown woman; long flowing black hair, face as gorgeous as her mother back in the day, a simple t-shirt and jeans. What was he doing? This was XIOMARA, baby Xo! He changed her diapers for Christ sake.

"Ah, I guess not." Rafael smiled, gulping down his beer.

"Xiomara! Amazing timing as usual; you remember Rafael, mija?" He gestured towards Rafa.

"Um, no dad—I was a baby, remember?"

"Ay, I meant from all the photos you had in that binder of yours, like he was a member of the Backstreet Men or something!" Fernando laughed, Xiomara's face turned white.

"DADDY! Jesus….he's exaggerating, I swear," She assured Rafa, her face now turning a deep shade of red.

"He knows mija, calm down. Well, I'VE done my dirty work here, I'll go help your mama and you two can….talk," Fernando raised his eyebrows.

"Dad! Seriously?" She pushed Fernando out of the room, his laugh still echoing from the kitchen.

"So, I guess….let's start from the beginning…?" Rafael finished his beer, settling into the couch.

"Okay….so, my first year of NYU, I took a government class. In the class, we had to pick a political figure of the current NYC system to do a profile on. After some research, I found you. I picked you," Zoe paced around the room, afraid to look him in the eye while she explained the whole story.

"Why?" Raf asked, warily.

"Because you were from the neighborhood! From el barrio; you made it out. Do you realize how much inspiration that is? What it means to someone like me? I'll tell you, it means everything," tears caught in her throat. "You, mean everything," She stopped right in front of him and looked him in the eyes for that last word, their gazes locked and Zoe swore she might pass out.

"I…ahem, anyway so then what, you learned all about me? And then….stalked me?" Rafael shook off the moment, trying to keep this on track.

"It wasn't stalking! It was research! I attended trials you were at for my class, to have something to write about," Zoe defended her actions.

"And what did you get on this paper?" Rafael teased.

"A plus baby, all the way,"

"Mmm. And then after that…?"

"After that, I um….I just, you know, kept up with you. Cases you were on, stuff like that,"

"Stuff like that?"

"Well it's not like I staked out your apartment or anything! I just….admired you from afar. Virtually, through different news sites and social media, stuff like that."

"So you cyber stalked me," He clarified.

"OKAY, fine. Can we please use a different term, maybe one with less negative connotation?"

"Okay, you….studied, me?"

"Yes. And every case you were on, you just impressed me more and more,"

"….I wasn't aware cases were livestreamed, or whatever the kids are calling it these days,"

"They're…not," she trailed off, looking at the floor.

"Wha-? So you just what, crashed my trials? And nobody noticed? Or cared?" Rafa shook his head, not believing what she was saying; He needed another beer.

"You certainly never did; and I'll have you know that it is perfectly legal AND logical for law students to sit in on trials, it's better than case studies on paper!" Zoe defended herself once again, walking over to a mini fridge and pulled out his favorite bourbon; she then pulled out two chilled glasses and poured one for herself, then another and handed it to Rafael as he talked.

"….Right. I'm sorry I just…." He trailed off, trying to piece together what had just happened before his eyes.

"What? You like bourbon, I like bourbon. This is my part of the house," She gestured to the other side of the room, he hadn't noticed before but it had an addition added on with a small back door, stove, and a table. So, she found him, she essentially stalked him, she bought the liquor he likes, and she somehow convinced him to come to her little woman cave….was that all?

"This is INSANE. YOU are insane, you're little Zoe! I used to change your diapers!" Raf exclaimed, now standing and began gulping down the liquor.

"Can we PLEASE not talk about that? It really freaks me out" She ran her fingers through her hair nervously.

"Yeah well it SHOULD! Your dad was my best friend for over 20 years! Xiomara, nina please-" Zoe jumped up at the mention of childish nicknames.

"Can you please STOP with all of this? Look, I don't remember any of that, OK? I didn't even know you knew my dad until the other night and vice versa—" She began pacing again furiously, downing her own glass. This wasn't exactly how she wanted this to go down.

"That's not my fault! I—" He tried once again to offer logic, but she was not hearing any of it.

"SHUSH! And whatever you two pendejos think I brought this to my father because it's WRONG what they did to you, not because I have some weird fantasy that you'll fall into my arms and fawn over me because I saved your career!" She quoted the last part, as if fangirl nonsense was worth all this drama.

"SAVED my career? You're going to save my career? And tell me, just what does the magnificent Xiomara have up her sleeve that could possibly make her my knight in shining armor?" Rafael scoffed, raising an eyebrow.

"The NYPD came down on you, because Jack Waters was trying to usher in this new ADA, the son of his dead best friend," She smirked, handing him a file.

Barba stood stunned for a moment, then slowly took the file and sat back down.

"Okay, I'm listening,"


End file.
